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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.57.10

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Daśaratha’s arrow aimed at a sound. He recalls mistaking a filling pot for an elephant and shooting a youth who directs him to his blind parents

In the sequence: He recalls his youth, before their marriage, when he was still heir: during the rainy season he went hunting beside the Sarayū

2.57.10

devy anūḍhā tvam abhavo yuvarājo bhavāmy aham
tataḥ prāvṛḍ anuprāptā madakāmavivardhinī

O queen, you were as yet unwed and I was the crown prince; then came the rainy season, that heightens ardour and desire.

Words: devy — O queen; anūḍhā — unwed; tvam — you; abhavo — were; yuvarājo — the crown prince; bhavāmy — was, am; aham — I; tataḥ — then; prāvṛḍ — the rainy season; anuprāptā — arrived, came on; madakāmavivardhinī — heightening ardour and desire

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.